Shove over, Shikamaru!
by jeano
Summary: Ino has a fight with her mother and runs away from home. And bunks in Shikamaru's house :D [ShikaIno]
1. Chapter 1

**Shove Over, Shikamaru! **

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto blah blah blah. You know the drill.

Chapter 1

Ino bounded down the stairs, her bare feet making dull thudding sounds as they contacted the wood. Her mother looked up from her cleaning, annoyed by the racket. When she saw her daughter all dolled up, dressed to party, she frowned. How could Ino be so irresponsible? There was much housework to be done, and they were both due for missions soon, so her top priority was to settle household matters.

"Ino, come here," she called her daughter sharply. Sure that she was in for a long lecture, Ino rolled her eyes as she turned around to face her mother. "I thought I'd already discussed this with you: we get the housework done, then we can do whatever we want. But _evidently_ you aren't heeding what I said." She glared at her daughter and folded her arms across her chest. A pause, then she demanded, "Where are you going, dressed like that?"

Ino, who had been until then trying to look bored and nonchalant, now glared back at her mother, her flashing blue eyes mirroring that of the older woman. "Mom, I'm nineteen! I know my priorities and I promise, the housework _will_ get done!" She threw her hands up in exasperation and, thinking the 'lecture' was over, turned on her heel and sauntered towards the door.

"Stop right there, young lady." The icy tone in her mother's voice somehow compelled Ino to stop in her tracks. Ino learnt from experience that whenever her mother spoke with this tone, she was in for trouble. _Big _trouble.

Reluctantly, Ino stood up from putting on her boots and tried not to show her annoyance as she slowly turned to face her mother. She was already running late for the party, and she had no intention to anger her mother further in case she got grounded. But she, like her mother, had a sharp tongue, and before she could stop herself, an impudent, "What, now?" had escaped her lips.

When Ino saw her mother stiffen and turn livid with rage upon hearing those two words, she knew this was the end. She sighed inwardly. _No more partying, no more TV, no fun, until either of us gets a mission. And all because of what? My own, stupid big mouth._

She rolled her eyes at the thought.

When her mother saw this, she flung the broom against the floor in a rage. The sudden, loud clattering sound startled Ino, and before she knew it, her right cheek was stinging from the tight slap her mother had just given her.

Tears sprang to Ino's eyes, both from the pain, and because of the indignance she was feeling towards her mother. She touched the still-tingling skin of her cheek, both angry and humiliated. Her mother had never hit her that way before. _Too bad Daddy isn't home or I'd surely have some protection. _

"That'll teach you some manners, young lady. You're grounded until your next mission." Ino thought she saw her mother gloating at her as she brushed past her to pick up the broom, and then resumed her cleaning as if nothing had happened.

Feeling the tide of anger surge higher within here, Ino yelled at her mother, the first time she had ever done so, "Fine! If I have to live with _your_ rules when I live in this house, I simply won't! I'm leaving!" Without another word, Ino stumbled upstairs to her room.

Thinking that this was but an empty threat, Mrs. Yamanaka resumed her cleaning, but much to her dismay, Ino soon reemerged from the stairs, carrying a suitcase. While she longed to take her daughter into her arms and apologise for hitting her earlier, her pride dictated that she should not succumb to emotional blackmail. Still, it took much effort for her to stop herself from taking a last glance at Ino and appear to be concentrating on her chores.

The front door closed with a slam.

As she slowly walked away from home, Ino felt her heart sink with disappointment. She had hoped that her mother would come running, begging her to stay, and she gladly would too. But she soon realised that her hopes would not be realised; she had to be realistic now. It was already night, and she was in no mood to party. So. The burning question: who was she going to stay with until the cold war between herself and her mother ended in a truce of sorts?

Ino quickly ruled Sakura out. She had recently been on a series of long-drawn missions and often resulted in her being too tired when off-duty to entertain guests. Ino attributed this to Sakura's guilt for being unable to persuade Sasuke not to leave Konoha. When he had finally returned to the village as a monster of Orochimaru's creation, Sakura was relieved, yet remorseful that she hadn't been able to do anything to save the boy she loved from harm. Although several years had passed since that incident, Sakura's life was still shadowed by her guilt, self-pity and a sense of worthlessness, and thus she sought to expiate her guilt to prove to herself that she was still worthy of life.

As Ino thought about the self-imposed tragedy that had befallen her best friend, she sighed helplessly. The least she could do now was not to trouble Sakura with such trivial domestic problems.

Ino leaned back on the park bench and continued thinking about who to bunk with. Her thoughts drifted back to her old Ino-Shika-Cho teammates. _Nah, not Chouji. He'd tempt me out of my diet... Shikamaru... Hm... He's smart, so he can help me think of a way out of the mess I'm in now... He's lazy, so he won't bother to tell on me to my parents because the fuss they'd kick up would be more than any trouble I could possibly bring him... Hm... _With that thought, her face lit up. "Perfect!" she exclaimed, inadvertently interrupting the romantic mood of the couple on the bench adjacent to hers. Grinning widely, Ino picked up her sole piece of luggage and bounced towards Shikamaru's house.

Shikamaru stole a glance at the kifu and placed a white stone on the lined board. It was a brilliant move, he thought. the player had managed to remove all threat to his territory, rendering his opponent's moves to dissolve his territory, useless. This marked the turning point of the game. Whatever Black tried to do, White's moves would block him and eventually, White won by a very healthy 3 and a half moku.

Shikamaru stared in awe at the black and white pieces laid neatly on the goban. The battle strategy laid out by White was brilliant, he thought. Duly impressed, he began to reanalyse the game right from the beginning.

So engrossed was he that he failed to notice Ino's frantic knocking on the far end of his room. Ino tried to force the stubborn window open, but to no avail. Exerting more force on the window, she managed to pry the window open, but only by a little. Ino pulled some more, and felt herself flush with the effort, and the window opened slowly, inch by inch.

A gale began to blow, and her suitcase teetered on the edge of the window ledge. She knew that if the suitcase fell, neighbours and passers-by would be alerted to her presence, and word would get around to her mother that she was staying with Shikamaru, and Ino did not want that to happen. In any case, she had to get into Shikamaru's room as soon as possible.

With this sense of urgency upon her, Ino gave all her strength into the final shove. The window suddenly heaved, and she stumbled into a stunned Shikamaru's room, crashing into him, toppling the goban, scattering the stones, and of course, creating a great deal of noise.

In the cool wind outside, Ino's suitcase balanced precariously on the window ledge. Grinning sheepishly at a very bewildered Shikamaru, Ino dashed out to get the suitcase and made it into his room just before the window slammed back down again of its own accord.

Shikamaru was half-sprawled on his back, the black and white stones scattered on the floor around him. He was visibly shaken by Ino's sudden, and very dramatic appearance. _What in the world is Ino doing here?_ He felt his cheeks redden as he took in her long, slender legs; only a little of their great length was covered by the white miniskirt she was wearing. He allowed his gaze to run up and down her svelte figure, undisciplined, and only managed to force himself to stop, albeit with great difficulty, when he heard footsteps approaching his room.

"Shikamaru?" It was his mother.

Tearing his lingering gaze off her, he grabbed her suitcase and stuffed it under his bed, and urgently motioned for her to follow suit. Understanding fully, Ino complied and deftly tucked herself in the narrow space between his bed and the floor.

After ensuring that neither she nor the suitcase could be seen from the door, Shikamaru took in a deep breath to calm himself down and then nonchalantly began to pick up the black and white stones scattered on the floor after righting the goban. Ino knew that he was putting on an act to account for the loud crash she had caused earlier, and was confident that he could pull it off convincingly. For now, she had to keep quiet until his mother left, and it was the least she could do not to get him in trouble. After all, she _had_ been the one who had cause him all this trouble and she felt a small pang of guilt for having brought him the trouble he disliked most.

The door opened with a soft creak. Although she could not see much from where she was, Ino could imagine Shikamaru's mother popping her head into his room, much like what her father often did when he called her for dinner. Ino felt her chest muscles tighten, but quickly suppressed her emotions.

"Shikamaru! I called you! Why didn't you reply?" A pause--she must have noticed the mess of Go stones and the overturned goban, then, "What in the world happened down here? I heard a crash, then a slam." The sound of faint rustling of cloth--Mrs. Nara was folding her arms across her chest. "You better have a good explanation for that, young man."

Shikamaru mumbled something unintelligible, under his breath, as he continued to scoop the Go stones from the floor. Ino stifled a giggle as she imagined his scowl.

"Come again?"

"It was a cat."

"A cat?!"

Shikamaru continued to drone, but with a slight edge in his voice. "Yes, a cat. A cat came in through the small gap between the window and the ledge and jumped onto me. I chased it out."

Ino smiled to herself. It was just like the old times: Shikamaru would always try to protect Chouji and herself, because they were his beloved teammates, and no matter how troublesome things got, he'd always be there to protect them.

But Shikamaru's mother was no idiot. "A cat jumped onto you and you, in turn, made the goban topple? The cat must've been quite heavy, huh."

"Huh? The goban toppled?" Shikamaru quickly feigned ignorance. "It's over there, isn't it?" He pointed at the righted goban, even as he continued to pick up the remaining black and white stones on the floor.

Ino guessed that Mrs. Nara's eyes were narrowed as she glared as Shikamaru, who was still calmly gathering the pieces on the floor.

After a pregnant pause, Mrs. Nara gave up trying to intimidate her son, and simply concluded that she was hearing things. She shook her head and complained, "Didn't I tell you to always keep that window shut? Why was it open? To let the breeze in again huh? If not for your own negligence, you wouldn't have to clear this troublesome mess."

Shikamaru was silent, and Ino was filled with contrite. Not only that, she was also upset that Mrs. Nara had displayed so much concern towards Shikamaru. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she bit her lip and blinked the tears back. For now, her focus had to be keeping Shikamaru out of trouble. If there was a time for her to shed tears, it would have to be later.

Thankfully, Mrs. Nara soon announced her departure. "Oh yes, Shikamaru, I'll be going over to the Akimichi's for supper. If you need anything, I'll be there. And there's some leftover food in the freezer, if you fancy eating. Take good care of the house while I'm gone. Bye dearie!"

She shut the door, and was gone.

However, it was not until Shikamaru heard the front door open, and then close, that he allowed Ino to come out from underneath his bed.

"Ino, you can come out now."

Wearily, she crawled out from the cramped space she and her suitcase occupied. It was remarkably clean, considering that this was _Shikamaru's_ room. But she knew she shouldn't be all that surprised; his mother was known to be a very meticulous person.

Shikamaru stared at Ino, who was slightly disheveled after crouching beneath his bed for all that time. He noted a certain sadness in her eyes. Concerned, he gently asked what the matter was, despite knowing that the result could be troublesome.

The cheerlessness in her eyes seemed to intensify. Then, without warning, she flung herself at him, and sobbed pitifully into his shoulder. Awkwardly, Shikamaru put his arms around her and stroked her hair soothingly.

_This__ is troublesome_, he grumbled to himself. But he had to admit, he loved the feeling of having her in his arms.

--------------

A/n: Wow that was one really long chapter. It's like this mainly because I didn't want to break the flow of the story ;; I really doubt I can write such long chapters consistently. Nevertheless, hope you enjoyed my stab at fanfic after nearly a year (is it? I really can't remember... it's been such a long time ) of relative inactivity (thanks to exams). I hope to update about once a week, maybe. I MUST finish this before the new term begins in January, or you'll be left hanging for months (guess what motivates me? XD;;)


	2. Chapter 2

**Shove Over, Shikamaru! **

Chapter 2

A while had passed, and Ino's heartwrenching sobs had turned into the occasional whimper. She lay limp in Shikamaru's arms, her head now rested on his shoulder, fingers fiddling absently with the torn piece of tissue paper in her hands.

Shikamaru had been stealing discreet glances at the clock on his wall all this while. His mother would be coming home anytime soon, and if she were to find a girl in his room at this hour--no matter who it was, he'd get hell from her for a month. Yet he couldn't chase Ino away, not now, at least. She was in dire need of emotional support, and had come to him for it. He wasn't one to turn people away, even if it was troublesome to help them think of solutions to their problems.

He knew that Ino was one who would bottle her feelings inside, and maintain her strong exterior all this while, no matter how much she hurt inside. Something very traumatic must have happened to shatter the protective shell she had built around herself.

As he stared at her hurriedly packed suitcase, he slowly began to pick the problem he now had on his hands, apart. _She's probably run away from home, looking for someone to stay with_. He scowled, and surmised that she was probably going to stay with him, if not until the storm in her life had blown over, then at least for the night. _So. Something must've happened at home. Whatever it was, it upset her, and she suppressed her emotions until after Mom left. _His heart went out to his ex-teammate. She had always wanted to be strong, and sometimes, he felt, her desire to appear resilient might have resulted in her hurting so much on the inside, simply because she was adamant about not revealing her inner, self-perceived weaker self.

He knew that time was slowly trickling away, but he could not force Ino to talk about her problem right then--it would surely result in her screaming about his being insensitive, and she would clam up further, and things would just get worse from there.

Thus, Shikamaru decided to take a gamble. There had been a few occasions when his mother had spent the night at the Akimichi's, too drunk to come home on her own. Desperately, he prayed that tonight would be another of those nights. Then, he would have all the time tonight to hear out Ino's woes. Right now, his duty was merely to be there for her; when she felt like it, she would speak up.

And she did, eventually, between choked-back sobs.

"Shikamaru?"

"Hm?"

"Have you ever felt that you weren't loved, and that the people around you were totally blind to your feelings? Have you?" She didn't wait for an answer; she was not expecting one anyway. "You know, my mom can be such an ass sometimes. She doesn't understand me, but she pretends and acts like she does. What's more, she expects me to listen to her every command. I don't even have enough time to myself between missions as it is--and you know how stressful our missions are, don't you?"

She sighed softly. Indeed, ninja their age who were at least Chuunin, were at their peak where agility, reflexes and alertness was concerned, and were thus often sent on dangerous missions. Yet at the same time, ninja their age were usually less experienced, and if captured, were less likely to make it out alive. This was the greatest hurdle all ninja had to overcome in their career, unless they were stuck as Genin their entire lives.

Tentatively, Shikamaru put his arm around her, and gently squeezed her shoulder. "I know," he murmured reassuringly. He paused, as if to consider how to say what he wanted to without offending her, and then continued, "So you moved out because you couldn't stand your mom? And, uh, you're intending to stay here?" He drawled, trying not to betray the mixed feelings he had. If she stayed, it would be rather--no, very troublesome to keep hiding her from his parents, but then again, he'd be staying in the same room, or at least the same house as _her._ However, if she said she was not staying, it would be a relief, and yet a disappointment.

When she nodded, he felt a wave of joy wash over him, but what followed was a kind of dread for the trouble she could cause him. For a moment, he was tempted to ask for the details of the fight she had with her mother, but refrained from doing so when he remembered what his father once told him: women are complicated beings too troublesome for us men to decipher. Besides, it was well past midnight, and he was sure she would need some rest.

As she busied herself unpacking her suitcase and hiding her clothes in Shikamaru's desk, he was silently celebrating, but was still considering the different places she could sleep. Even though it was pretty obvious from the outset that the safest place was probably under his bed, he still made it a point to go through all the possible solutions, just like how he would in battle. In this case, he was 'battling' against his parents. _And_, he thought wryly, _I have to draw up a list of don'ts and a timetable of my parents' usual habits to minimise the risk of them seeing her. Argh, how troublesome. Why did I get myself into this mess?_

Nara Shikamaru could scarcely sleep that night. The very thought that Yamanaka Ino was sleeping beneath him kept him wide awake, even though he kept reminding himself that there was a mattress, a bed frame and a sleeping bag, not to mention their clothes, separating their naked bodies.

For the umpteenth time that night, he shook his head to clear his mind of any dirty thoughts and instead tried to concentrate on how to keep his parents, mainly his mother, out of his room. She liked to see things arranged _her_ way, and if they were not, she would rearrange them_ her _way. Thus, no matter how well Ino's things were hidden, they were bound to be found eventually, and then both of them would be in deep trouble. Shikamaru pictured Inoshi accusing him of forcing his beloved princess to have an affair with him, and then making him marry her, and shuddered.

Shikamaru sighed. This was going to be one long night.

-------

A/n: Okay. About this chapter. I felt that Shikamaru is never the touchy-feely kind of person, but apparently Ino likes making skin contact with others (Eg. when she openly huggled Sasuke at the start of the Chuunin exam.) So, while it may seem totally OOC for Shikamaru to put his arm around her, I feel it isn't, because Shikamaru understands that this small gesture will cheer Ino up.

And, as for the silly argument Ino had with her mom, it was a little based on the silly things my mom and I bicker over (of course, in the story it is very much exaggerated XP) and how we react during the argument. But I'm only 16, and she's 19 here, so if you think she's a little too childish, you know why ;;

Last but not least, to Tench-Sama, nonengel, reiko and The Prime Minister, thanks for reviewing. You really made a difference. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

By the way, Tench-Sama, I was just kidding about the reviews thingy. To me, what's important is that you enjoy the story, not for you to erm.. serve up reviews to me to get me going. But thanks anyway. You really made my day d huggles


	3. Chapter 3

**Shove Over, Shikamaru! **

Chapter 3

Ino stared at the list of Do's and Don'ts, and the timetable of the Nara family's usual activities incredulously.

"You're going to make me memorise that?!"

Shikamaru shrugged. "It isn't a lot, you know."

She held up the list and shook it dramatically in his face as she shrieked, "Five pages isn't a lot? You must be kidding!"

He averted his gazed and scowled. It would be pointless to argue with her; he had never won a single argument with her all these years. So, he changed the subject. "Ino, it's almost eight. Mom could be coming home soon. Could you please lower your volume and not blow your cover?"

"I'm not shouting at you! You're just trying to get me off your back!" she screamed.

Shikamaru sighed. "Okay, okay. You're not shouting. Want some breakfast?"

-----

Ino munched happily on the toast Shikamaru made for her. "You're a pretty good cook, you know. This is the best toast I've eaten in a long time!"

"Huh. You mean you can't make toast without burning it?" He smirked, but let it drop when he glimpsed Ino glaring daggers at him. "Look, I'll be getting a mission today. But my parents don't know about it. So you'll have to be me until I get back, okay?"

"But I'm scheduled to get a mission soon too... What will I do then?"

"Sheesh. Just say that 'you' got a mission! Remember, my parents would think _I _got the mission, so long as your Henge no Jutsu is convincing."

Ino flushed a deep red, embarrassed that she was so stupid as to be unable to solve her own problems. She knew she was being a little too reliant on Shikamaru at that point in time, but she couldn't help herself. He was so reliable, so trustworthy, and such a great friend, and whose brains were just waiting to be picked by her. And the best part was, he was more than happy to let her exploit his intelligence.

She sighed contentedly as she polished off the last of her toast, and then shuffled to the sink to wash the plate. When she was done, she saw Shikamaru wearing his sandals at the door. Anxiously, she hurried towards him. "You're leaving so soon?"

"Yeah. Hokage-sama wants to see me."

"Will it be dangerous? The mission she'll be assigning you, I mean." Her hands were clasped together above her heart.

He cocked his head to one side and eyed her closely. "Don't worry. I'll be back alive."

Without another word, he walked out the door and shut it firmly behind him.

-----

Ino lay on Shikamaru's bed, reading through the long list of Do's and Don'ts Shikamaru had prepared for her. She was duly moved by the amount of effort he was putting into helping her, but a small part of her felt that his desire to save his own skin was a bigger motivating factor than the need he felt to help her, his old friend. The seeds of doubt had embedded themselves in her consciousness, and try as she might, Ino was unable to completely rid herself of the nagging feeling that Shikamaru was not really out to help her, but was more concerned about not getting burnt by the trouble she had brought him.

Unhappily, she hung around the empty Nara house, whiling her time away by looking through the old photo albums proudly displayed in the living room.

The third photo album was filled with photographs of Team 10 from cover to cover. She was amazed at the number of shots taken of them training, on missions, and doing silly things together. She giggled as she imagined either of Shikamaru's parents concealing themselves in thorny, dense bushes just to record their son's development as a ninja. It seemed highly implausible for Shikamaru's lazy father to do something as troublesome as that, although she could just imagine Mrs. Nara nagging at him into doing it.

She allowed a faint smile to tug at the corners of her mouth as she recalled those moments they had as a team. They had met up occasionally since Shikamaru's promotion to Chuunin, and as the years went by, and as they slowly but surely climbed the ladder of the ninja hierarchy, their schedules barely permitted those cherished gatherings they had together, and soon Team 10 hardly saw one another at all.

"Shikamaru? Why are you smiling to yourself? Are you okay?"

_Oh, crap!_

"Oh my gosh! Shikamaru! You're _actually _looking at photo albums! You must be really ill!" Concerned, Mrs. Nara placed her hand on 'Shikamaru's' forehead to check if 'he' had a temperature.

"Mom, I'm fine, really." Ino brushed Mrs. Nara's hand off and scurried upstairs, leaving the puzzled woman to draw her own conclusions from her son's strange behaviour.

"Hah. So he just likes to act gung-ho, eh. He's just a sentimental little sweetie beneath that grumpy exterior of his." Mrs. Nara muttered to no one in particular, a smug smile on her face now that she had discovered her son's little secret. Now, this was something she absolutely _had_ to tell her friends the next time they met up at the Akimichi's...

-----

Ino flopped herself onto Shikamaru's bed, completely shaken by the close call she had just now.

_Gosh. I've really got to start acting like Shikamaru already. I was careless. I should have kept in mind that Shikamaru's mom was coming home soon. _

Ino checked the list of Do's and Don'ts. Shikamaru did not give her concrete guidelines on how to act like him, only a vague 'just be lazy and act like an old man'.

_Right. That probably includes playing Go and Shougi. _Ino frowned. She had never been good at those games, although she roughly knew their rules. However, she was close to being a complete flop when it came to playing decently.

_At least only Mrs. Nara's home right now. As far as I know, it's only the Nara men who are crazy over those silly yet profound games. Ugh. I can't wait to get my mission! Or for Shikamaru to return from his! _

Grudgingly, Ino picked up one of Shikamaru's many kifu, and began laying out the stones on the goban, in a lame attempt to act like Shikamaru. She did not really understand what was going on in the game, but placed the stones on the board between long and deliberate pauses anyway to give an onlooker the impression that she was considering the various possibilities of the game.

Ino caught herself mid-yawn as she heard the front door open. She heard some low mumbling, and then Mrs. Nara snapping angrily at the mumbling man.

_Great! I'm done for! _

True enough, Nara Shikato soon opened the door to Shikamaru's room. "Hey, son."

Ino looked up from the goban and tried to look grumpy. Shikato was muddy and tired, and his left arm was in a sling, but the gleam in his eyes when he saw the goban was unmistakeable.

_Uh-oh... _

"Shikamaru, you ready for a game? Or do you want to discuss this game? Or maybe I should bathe first..." He grinned sheepishly at Ino, scratching the back of his head.

_Oh my God, please, bathe first!! _Ino prayed silently.

"Looks like your mother just cleaned your room; I think I'll bathe first, then." He turned to go, then stopped suddenly, his hand on the doorknob.

"Wait. Is that perfume I smell?"

Ino froze, certain that her game was over.

-------

A/n: Hoho, a cliffhanger for you guys! :D (Sorry if I seemed jolly about it XD;;)

To B4By K4K4Sh1, reiko, Cyberwing, Kyuubi no Tai, Smiling-Fox and flubby , thanks a bunch for your support! I'm glad all of you have enjoyed my fic so far. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter too

I'll be away on vacation for the better half of next week, and I hope I'll be able to update on time :)

Till then!


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